The Acheulean represents the longest cultural period known to human history, lasting globally for more than 1.75 million years. It may have emerged as early as 1.95 Ma in Africa, spreading throughout much of the continent and then into Eurasia and lasting up to 350-200 ka in western Europe and South Asia, and even later in eastern Asia. Originally defined in the 1870s, the term Acheulean is one of the earliest and most contested classifications in prehistoric archaeology. Almost 150 years after its first appearance, it remains a source of continuous debate. This paper summarizes roundtable discussions that took place at the Musée de l'Homme (Paris) in November 2025 that focused on the meaning of the Acheulean and the diversity of its manifestations across Eurasia. Some 20 researchers, from various institutions across Europe, Asia, and the Pacific participated in this event, during which it became clear that the Acheulean had different meanings to the participants. Among the major points raised during the meeting was the question of how different specialists differentiate the Acheulean from the older Oldowan techno-complex, with specificities emerging from each of their respective regions of study. The geographic origins and hominin species' attribution of the Acheulean toolmakers were also brought to the fore since important questions have been raised in the last decades by the growing record of hominin taxa that existed during this timeframe across Eurasia and the relatively late arrival of this techno-complex in Europe. These issues become even more important when we consider the recent evidence emanating out of Asia, which indicates that hominins were present well before their earliest appearance in Europe. The purpose of this paper is not only to make a statement regarding how to define the Acheulean, but also to illustrate its diversity across Eurasia.

The Pleistocene-Holocene transition witnessed diverse pathways to socio-economic complexity globally. In contrast to the agricultural trajectories, communities in the karst landscapes of southwestern China maintained a resilient, long-term foraging tradition. This study examines the technology and function of organic artifacts from Niupodong Cave, Guizhou, through the analysis of teeth and bone tools, and personal ornaments. The results reveal a diversified osseous technological repertoire, providing direct evidence for symbolic expression, garment making, freshwater fishing, and probable plant processing. Critically, the presence of marine shells indicates long-distance exchange or mobility networks linking this inland site to coastal regions at least 600 km away. These findings illuminate a pattern of gradual, locally embedded innovation where technological elaboration and expanding social networks enhanced a mixed foraging context without an immediate shift to agriculture. The Niupodong assemblage demonstrates the need to document regional technological and subsistence changes at a micro-scale to investigate the extent to which they relate to ecological resources, subsistence economy, and social organization during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in southwestern China.

Growing fossil and genomic evidence has substantially advanced our understanding of Denisovans’ evolutionary history1–9, yet their technological behaviours and subsistence strategies remain poorly documented. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of hominin fossils and associated archaeological remains from Bianfu Cave, Yunnan Province, southwestern China. The hominin fossils are dated to about 167–134 thousand years ago (ka), whereas the cultural sequence spanned from about 190 ka to 70 ka, representing one of the longest cultural records most parsimoniously attributed to Denisovans—identified through enamel–dentine junction morphology and palaeoproteomic analyses10. The new fossils include four teeth that expand the known dental variation of this group, two cranial fragments and a radius. Faunal and pollen records indicate a conifer-dominated forest or forest-steppe environment across Marine Isotope Stages 6 to 4. The inhabitants of Bianfu Cave practised specialized hunting of medium- to large-bodied prey and used a technological strategy characterized by expedient core reduction and tool production, alongside pervasive use of unmodified bones. This pattern suggests an adaptive system prioritizing the exploitation of object affordance over intensive tool manufacture. Bianfu Cave provides unprecedented insights into Denisovan biology, behaviour and ecology in eastern Asia and points to a substantial genetic and cultural legacy in later populations in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Evidence from Bianfu Cave shows specialized hunting, expedient stone-tool production and extensive bone use of Denisovans, providing new insights into their ecology, behaviour and cultural legacy in eastern Asia.

Spheroids are widely distributed lithic artifacts, yet their production strategies and functions remain debated. Traditional morphology-based typologies obscure their technological features and variability. Here we introduce a novel, open-source and reproducible framework that uses spherical harmonics as a method of quantitative morphological analysis, integrated with technological measures, to assess production strategies. Applied to Middle Pleistocene faceted spheroids from Qianshangying (similar to 429 ka, northern China), the approach demonstrates that spheroid production followed a conceptual template, involving a patterned reduction process aimed at achieving standardized spherical forms, and represents a deliberate shaping strategy. Our results further demonstrate that spheroids can be clearly distinguished from polyhedrons and multifacial cores exhausted through reduction. Our methods for investigating spheroid production strategies reveal a higher level of technological complexity than previously assumed for early lithic industries in northern China. Our study also provides a transparent and replicable framework with broad po-tential for advancing cross-regional and comparative studies of spheroid production but also more broadly for lithic technological research for any period and region.

Adhesive, frequently associated with hafting technology and composite tools, is a useful indicator of the complex technological behaviors and cognitive abilities of Palaeolithic people. However, in China, no direct evidence of Palaeolithic adhesive has yet been discovered. Here, by combining lithic residue and use-wear analysis, we provide its first documentation at the MIS 2 site of Shanghu. Our study reveals use of plant adhesive that, we suggest, indicates a technological behavior associated with lithic miniaturization in South China and Southeast Asia during the Upper Palaeolithic.

The Middle Paleolithic in Eurasia, also known as the Middle Stone Age in Africa, spans approximately 300 to 40 ka. This period represents a critical phase in human evolution, marked by the emergence of early modern humans, the diversification of archaic populations (e.g., Neanderthals and Denisovans), and significant innovations in lithic technology. In western Eurasia, Middle Paleolithic technologies exhibit remarkable diversity, exemplified by the Mousterian technocomplex associated with Neanderthals, which encompasses distinct variants such as Levallois, laminar, Quina, and discoid-denticulate systems. Meanwhile, human evolution in East Asia during this period was marked by considerable complexity, as reflected in avariety of archaic human fossils exhibiting mosaic anatomical features. Palaeoproteomic and ancient DNA analyses have further revealed that some of these individuals belong to the Denisovan lineage, including the Xiahe Man from the Baishiya Karst Cave in Gansu Province, the Homo longi ("Dragon Man") from Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, and the Penghu 1 mandible discovered in the Penghu Channel, Taiwan Strait. However, East Asia's Middle Paleolithic record has long been considered as technologically conservative, with a notable absence of diagnostic Middle Paleolithic techno-complexes contrasting sharply with its rich archaic hominin fossil record. Recent discoveries, including Levallois and discoid assemblages, have begun to challenge this view, highlighting the need to reassess regional technological trajectories. A newly conducted multidisciplinary study at the Longtan site (optically stimulated luminescence dating, approximately 60-50 ka) in northwestern Yunnan has identified, for the first time in East Asia, a well-defined Middle Paleolithic Quina lithic assemblage. This lithic technology is distinguished by: (1) A plan-secant flaking strategy designed to produce thick Quina flakes with asymmetrical cross-sections and cortical backing on one side of the dorsal surface, which serve as Quina scraper blanks; (2) sequential edge retouching using both soft and hard hammers, resulting in distinct convexity and concavity scars; and (3) sustained edge resharpening to maintain functionality, with the resulting resharpening flakes repurposed as blanks for small-sized tools, exemplifying a ramified/branched reduction sequence. This highly structured reduction system follows a standardized mental template, yielding morphologically consistent and recyclable scrapers that correspond to high-mobility subsistence strategies, a technological signature previously attributed exclusively to Neanderthals in western Eurasia during MIS 4 to MIS 3 climatic oscillations. Notably, more than 30 additional Quinarelated sites have been discovered near Longtan, with the Tianhuadong Cave site serving as a key example. Preliminary dating suggests an occupation range of approximately 90-40 ka for Tianhuadong Cave, potentially extending the temporal span of Quina technology in the region. Furthermore, Quina-like assemblages have been documented across both northern and southern China, indicating a potential broad spatial and temporal distribution of this techno-complex in East Asia. By integrating multi-proxy evidence from fossil morphology, ancient genomics, and lithic technology, we propose that Neanderthals likely inhabited East Asia, and potentially dispersing into the region via two routes: a northern steppe corridor through Siberia, supported by genetic evidence of Neanderthal-Denisovan admixture at Denisova Cave, and a southern route via the Indian subcontinent, where they may have interacted with westward-expanding Denisovans. Genetic evidence of Neanderthal-Denisovan admixture, as documented at Denisova Cave in the Altai region of Siberia, further supports this hypothesis. Overall, the discovery of the Quina technology at Longtan, not only fills a critical gap in Middle Paleolithic lithic technologies in East Asia, but also reinforces the diversity and complexity of lithic technology, adaptation strategy, and human populations in this region. These findings highlight the significance of East Asia in the broader narrative of human evolution.

In tectonically active mountainous regions, large-scale landslide damming events have profound impacts on long-term fluvial landforms, such as river diversion and formation of epigenetic gorges. Here, we investigate morphometric and sedimentological evidence of an ancient large-scale landslide in the Kyirong River basin located in the central Himalayas. The ancient Kyirong landslide completely blocked the river, causing overtopping at the lowermost part of the dam crest. The river then progressively incised through the landslide deposits and the underlying bedrock, carving out the similar to 300-m-deep Kyephu Gorge within the original bedrock valley walls. Unlike the conventional formation of epigenetic gorges, the new river channel of the Kyirong River is located closer to the landslide wall compared to the original channel.This unique formation model is the result of the combined effects of the landslide movement process and the distinctive topography. Through remote sensing image interpretation, field surveys, sediment layer analysis, and geomorphological parameter calculations, this study reconstructs the motion process of the Kyirong landslide and its subsequent effects on the river system. The Kyirong landslide is identified as a late Quaternary event, corresponding to a river incision rate of over 14.2 mm/year. The landslide event has caused significant changes in local geomorphological features, reshaping the evolution of the river. This study provides a specific case, demonstrating that in tectonically active regions, landslide events play a direct role in controlling the evolution of river landforms.

The Northwest Tibet region is defined by several terranes, magmatic belts, basins and sutures, which were primarily shaped by the tectonic activities associated with Proto-, Palaeo- and Neo-Tethys Oceans. However, the basement nature and Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Northwest Tibet region, particularly within the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane, remain largely unknown. The Hongliutan area, located in the northeastern part of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane, contains a critical sequence of Precambrian metamorphic rock strata. Detailed petrological, geochronological, and geochemical analyses of these metamorphic rocks - including plagioclase schist, quartz schist, amphibolite and nearby leucogranite - reveal the intricate processes of tectonic evolution within the Tianshuihai unit. Combining these findings with previous geochronological results is crucial for re-evaluating the nature of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai basement and its Precambrian tectonic evolution of the Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai basement. Our results reveal the following: (1) the leucogranite and amphibolite, identified as Cambrian igneous rocks, display distinct geochemical signatures indicative of a continental arc origin. These include calc-alkaline characteristics, enrichment in Th, U, Pb, Zr and Hf and depletion in Ba, Nb, Sr and Ti. Their epsilon Nd(t) values, close to zero, further support this tectonic setting, with the leucogranite and amphibolite formed at 506 and 522 Ma, respectively. (2) The plagioclase schist and quartz schist are interpreted to be Neoproterozoic volcaniclastic rocks that formed in a rifted (passive) continental margin setting. The quartz schist is particularly rich in detrital zircons, displaying a broad spectrum of 207Pb/206Pb ages, ranging from 901 to 3364 Ma. (3) A significant subset of detrital zircons within the quartz schist exhibits oscillatory zoning, high Th/U ratios and sharp-edged, anhedral-to-subhedral crystal forms, suggesting a derivation from proximal or deep-seated terranes. The concordant U-Pb zircon ages of 2468 and 974 Ma from the quartz schist, along with the 978 Ma age from the inherited zircons in the amphibolite, and the 1.2-2.1 Ga T2DM(Nd) from leucogranite and metamorphic rocks, collectively suggest that the Tianshuihai unit is likely underpinned by a Palaeoproterozoic basement that indicates Neoproterozoic reworking.Therefore, our findings suggest the presence of a continuous, northwest-southeast trending Palaeoproterozoic basement underlying the entire Tashikuergan-Tianshuihai terrane. An alternative scenario posits that the ancient basement, currently beneath the Tashikuergan terrane, could extend into the Tianshuihai region, potentially indicating a Cambrian continental margin arc interspersed with remnants of older terranes.

Landslide‐ or glacier‐dammed lakes and associated catastrophic outburst floods represent key geomorphological agents in shaping fluvial landscapes in high‐altitude, steep mountain environments. Previous studies have reported hundreds of Late Pleistocene moraine/glacier and landslide dams caused by glacier advances or seismic activity across the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, and confirmed that these dammed lakes significantly impeded river incision into the plateau interior. However, comprehensive exploration for geomorphological and sedimentological records documenting the complete evolutionary cycles of such dammed lakes remains scarce. This study identifies a well‐preserved lacustrine‐fan delta sedimentary succession associated with the Xiaqu dammed lake in the Yigong Tsangpo basin. Through integrated field observations, sedimentological analyses and chronological data obtained through optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) and AMS radiocarbon dating techniques, we reconstruct the full evolutionary history of the lake, which underwent five distinct evolutionary stages, including initial formation, abrupt failure, secular stability, sedimentary infilling and fluvial incision. The initial landslide dam created at a height of 2,650 m above sea level (a.s.l.) may experience rapid breaching when lake water overtopped the crest, triggering outburst flood event(s). Continuous lacustrine sediments deposited between 4.74 ka and 3.11 ka imply a relative stability period for the remnant dammed lake. Subsequent fluvial deposits, unconformably overlying lacustrine sediments post‐siltation, are dated to slightly later than 1.48 ka cal. BP. Furthermore, compiled climate proxy indicators and paleo‐landslide inventories at the margins of the Tibetan Plateau provide insights into the roles of extreme events and climate change in the evolution of fluvial landscapes within a regional context.

Archaic hominin fossils from East Asia dating to the late Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene display substantial morphological diversity, and their systematic classification has long remained controversial. In this Perspective, we integrate morphological evidence with recent advances in molecular research to re-evaluate the evolutionary landscape of archaic hominins in East Asia prior to the emergence of Homo sapiens, with particular focus on the Harbin cranium and its implications for the taxon Homo longi. Recent paleoproteomic and ancient DNA studies indicate that the Harbin cranium carries Denisovan-related genetic and proteomic signatures and is closely affiliated with Denisovan lineages identified at Xiahe, Penghu, and in the Altai Mountains. When viewed in a broader morphological context, the Harbin cranium and the Xiahe mandible form a sister grouping, together with fossils from Dali, Jinniushan, and Hualongdong, suggesting a coherent East Asian archaic hominin “Homo longi” clade. We propose a unifying taxonomic framework in which East Asian Denisovan populations are provisionally referred to as Homo longi, and discuss the possibility that this lineage comprised multiple deeply divergent populations with the capacity to occupy diverse ecological niches, including high-altitude environments. Future research integrating additional ancient genomes, proteomic data, and high-precision chronologies will be essential to further elucidate the origins, dispersal, environmental adaptations, and contributions of Homo longi populations to the formation of modern humans in East Asia.

The Late Pleistocene of Eurasia is key for understanding interactions between early modern humans and different types of archaic human groups. During this period, lithic technology shows more diversity and complexity, likely indicating flexible adaptative strategies. However, cultural variability as expressed by technological types remains vague in large parts of eastern Eurasia, like in China. Here, we report a complete Quina technological system identified from the study of the Longtan site in Southwest China. The site has been securely dated to ca. 60 to 50 thousand years ago (ka), with compelling evidence of core exploitation, production of large and thick flakes, shaping and maintenance of scrapers exhibiting the whole Quina concept, typical of contemporary European Middle Paleolithic technologies developed by Neanderthal groups adapted to climatic oscillations during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 and early MIS 3. The finding of a Quina lithic assemblage in China not only demonstrates the existence of a Middle Paleolithic technology in the region but also shows large-scale analogies with Neanderthal behaviors in western Europe. Longtan substantially extends the geographic distribution of this technical behavior in East Asia. Although its origin remains unclear, implications for Pleistocene hominin dispersal and adaptation to diverse ecological settings are considered. The Longtan lithic evidence also provides perspectives for understanding the cultural evolutionary situation before the large-scale arrivals of early modern humans in East Asia predating ~45 ka.

The paleoenvironmental changes and adaptation strategies of hominins during the Late Pleistocene are crucial for understanding the evolution, dispersal, and behavioral shifts of early modern humans. Despite South China’s significance as a nexus for hominin dispersal and handaxe technology diffusion, quantitative reconstructions of paleoenvironments linked to archaeological records remain scarce. The Sandinggai site (96.6–13.3 ka BP) in central South China, with its well-preserved stratigraphy and abundant lithic artefacts, is notable for providing valuable insights. In this study, quantitative reconstruction of the vegetation succession and climate change sequences at the site was conducted using palynological and isotopic data. The results indicated a shift from a warm-temperate evergreen and deciduous broadleaf mixed forest to a temperate deciduous broadleaf forest, with the climate transitioning from warm and humid to cooler and drier conditions. During the early phase, an increase in lithic production suggested favorable conditions for hominin survival. In the later phase, decreased lithic production and the replacement of large handaxe tools by smaller flake tools, indicated that hominins adapted to the cooler, drier climate and more open landscapes through lithic miniaturization. These findings highlight the environment-driven adaptation of lithic technology and hominin behavior, thereby shedding light on human survival adaptation strategies.

Lithic miniaturization is a widespread and technologically diverse phenomenon documented across the Old World during the late Late Pleistocene. However, its specific technical manifestation in South China remains poorly understood. The newly discovered Shanghu site provides critical insights into this question, preserving an abundant lithic assemblage dating to similar to 26,000 years ago, within the cold phase of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2. The assemblage, rich in miniaturized quartz artifacts and predominated by diversified freehand knapping strategies, reflects significant regional diversity of miniaturized lithic assemblages in South China during MIS 2. This study presents an in-depth analysis of the potential relationship between the miniaturized production at Shanghu and raw material, as well as the climate. We suggest such miniaturization at Shanghu cannot be fully attributed to raw material properties alone, and may also be related to the technological response to adapt high-mobility subsistence strategy in the open environments of MIS 2.

Environmental Variability Selection (EVS) is hypothesized for the emergence of early Homo (H.) sapiens with small lithic tools in Africa. Yet, it is unclear how the EVS works when a special hominin group with advanced small lithic tools evolved from the Asian H. erectus with expedient core and flake industry. Lantian loessland in southern Chinese Loess Plateau in North China preserves continuous and concentrated hominin fossil, faunal, pollen, stone tool, paleoclimate, and landform records for last 2 million years (Ma) and is an ideal place to test this hypothesis. We reanalyzed delta 13C values of soil organic and inorganic carbon from 2 Lantian loess-paleosol records to partition seasonal climate and habitat changes with synthesized lithic, faunal, and pollen data to seek cluses. We found that Lantian Gongwangling and Chenjiawo H. erectus adapts to woodland-forest habitats, manufacturing Mode 1 stone artifacts foraging subtropical animals in warm and Paleoarctic animals in cool seasons on the low and medium-high rolling loessland, while more advanced Dali hominins adapt to certain steppe-shrubland habitats manufacturing diverse small-sized lithic tools to forage more open-habitat animals in all seasons on hilly landforms. We propose that co-evolution of seasonal habitat variability and changing local landforms in 2.0-0.2 Ma advances Dali hominin's cognitive capacity for strategically using landform morphology for subsistence and manufacture small stone tools for intercepting high fluxes of seasonal resources on highly variable loessland. Seasonal landscape variability and landform evolution is the key in the EVS for the evolution from Asian H. erectus to a more advanced hominin group or species.

With the discovery of more than a hundred Pleistocene Paleolithic sites, the Nihewan Basin of North China has become an area of reference for the study of human evolution and behavioral adaptations during and after the spread of hominins out of Africa and into Eurasia. However, most research has focused on the Early and Late Pleistocene archaeological record, whereas studies of the Middle Pleistocene sequence are relatively limited. Here we contribute to fill this gap by introducing the archaeological assemblage and 26Al/10Be burial dating of the newly discovered Jijiazhuang (JJZ) Paleolithic site. Systematic excavations in recent years have yielded wellpreserved stone artifacts and mammalian fossils in fluvio-lacustrine sediments at the site. Cosmogenic 26Al/10Be burial dating indicates that hominins occupied the site between 0.49 +/- 0.10 and 0.63 +/- 0.11 Ma, corresponding to the extra-long interglacial period of MIS 15-13. The JJZ lithic assemblage shows evidence of relatively longdistance resource procurement, and the increased number of retouched tools indicate standardized, extensive and refined modification, even shaping strategies. The JJZ lithic technology shows advanced features that may shed light on the regional emergence of Middle Paleolithic technologies, in a paleoecological context where the extra-long duration of interglacial/mild stadial climate events (MIS 15-13) may have provided favorable conditions for increased technological capabilities among Middle Pleistocene hominins from the Nihewan Basin. Our study is the first to present a detailed techno-typological analysis of a Middle Pleistocene lithic assemblage in the Nihewan Basin and contributes to the characterization of technological adaptions in the high latitudes of East Asia.

Ancient environmental DNA (aeDNA) is now commonly used in paleoecology and evolutionary ecology, yet due to difficulties in gaining sufficient genome coverage on individual species from metagenome data, its genetic perspectives remain largely uninvestigated. Hybridization capture has proven as an effective approach for enriching the DNA of target species, thus increasing the genome coverage of sequencing data and enabling population and evolutionary genetics analysis. However, to date there is no tool available for designing capture probe sets tailored for aeDNA based population genetics. Here we present eProbe, an efficient, flexible and easy-to-use program toolkit that provides a complete workflow for capture probe design, assessment and validation. By benchmarking a probe set for foxtail millet, an annual grass, made by the eProbe workflow, we demonstrate a remarkable increase of capturing efficiency, with the target taxa recovery rate improved by 577-fold, and the genome coverage achieved by soil capture-sequencing data even higher than data directly shotgun sequenced from the plant tissues. Probes that underwent our filtering panels show notably higher efficiency. The capture sequencing data enabled accurate population and evolutionary genetic analysis, by effectively inferring the fine-scale genetic structures and patterns, as well as the genotypes on functional genes. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

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In short video and live broadcasts, speech, singing voice, and background music often overlap and obscure each other. This complexity creates difficulties in structuring and recognizing the audio content, which may impair subsequent ASR and music understanding applications. This paper proposes a multi-task audio source separation (MTASS) based ASR model called JRSV, which Jointly Recognizes Speech and singing Voices. Specifically, the MTASS module separates the mixed audio into distinct speech and singing voice tracks while removing background music. The CTC/attention hybrid recognition module recognizes both tracks. Online distillation is proposed to improve the robustness of recognition further. To evaluate the proposed methods, a benchmark dataset is constructed and released. Experimental results demonstrate that JRSV can significantly improve recognition accuracy on each track of the mixed audio.